ARTIST OF THE MONTH: DELOYD ELZE

May 1, 2026

As we move into spring, we usher in May’s Artist of the Month, Deloyd Elze. Going from one coast to the other- Deloyd, originally from Jacksonville, Florida, made his way to Los Angeles to pursue his musical passion. Getting his start in a band with dreams of California living, they began their move out West. Due to growing up and apart, the band parted ways in order to follow their own dreams. Deloyd, having made multiple pit stops before his eventual landing in Los Angeles, felt lost. But the excitement of writing, producing, recording, and distributing his own music helped him find his way. Once in Los Angeles, the world was at his feet. Although still having to work three jobs to get by, he says, “I've never been more creatively satisfied and fulfilled in my life”. While sitting with Deloyd, we talked about his latest EP, “Nellene” and his love for writing. After reflecting on his journey, it is clear he is heavily influenced by his rollercoaster of experiences and beloved community. Deloyd is proof you don't have to abandon yourself to get where you want to be.

PETTY: Where does the name Deloyd come from? Did you always plan on having a stage name?

ELZE: The name Deloyd Elze comes from my Great Grandfather. His family grew up around South Georgia and they all had very creative southern names. He was one of about 17 kids I believe, I don’t remember all of their names, but he had a sister named “Mamie Jewel”. That one always sticks out in my mind.

A couple things happened that eventually led to me taking on my Great Grandfather’s name as a stage name. I had a project before called Cavediver and made a record's worth of music when I moved to LA, I put it out completely independently. All of a sudden another band called “Cave Diver” showed up and their members were comprised of indie rock royalty, so I really couldn’t compete. By that point, I had started on what would eventually be the music for the Deloyd project. Emotionally and spiritually I had felt that it was different from what I had been writing prior. It felt more familiar and personal, compounding that with the fact there was another project with the same moniker, that was all the reasons I needed to start going by Deloyd. It feels nice to operate and create from a step removed from myself, and it feels nice to use a family name.

PETTY: Who are the biggest inspirations for your music?

ELZE: I would say in all honesty the scene that I’ve found myself in LA. There are a lot of amazing artists out here making really bold and vulnerable art, contrary to the belief that LA is a vapid and shallow place. I always feel energized and inspired after seeing a friend's set. I’ll probably get myself in trouble not remembering everyone, but to name a few: Boxtrod, Wilter, Adriana McCassim, Jacob Cummings, Laney Tripp, Finnish Postcard, Nick Dorian, Seamus Guy, Etc.

PETTY: From the composition and lyrics, to the production and engineering, what is your favorite part about making music?

ELZE: The writing seems to be a constant joy. I kinda write and produce at the same time. Having sounds and different palettes sets off my writing brain. I love the feeling of sitting down at the desk, VCR scrubbing forward 3 hours, regaining consciousness, and looking down and seeing a song appear. It's one part magic, two parts luck, some skill, and full patience.

PETTY: How did you find your sound?

ELZE: Trial and error I suppose. It's definitely an amalgamation of all of my musical interests and hyper fixations. Country/Folk music mixed with sequencers, drum machines, and synthesizers. I don’t know the exact recipe, If I did I would share it and shout it from the rooftops, but truth be told it's just me following my taste and gut.

PETTY: Does your music help you find yourself or is it how you express yourself? Or both?

ELZE: It's probably a bit of both. I’ve had the feeling of writing a song and not knowing what it's about until a lot later down the line. I’ve also had the experience of writing something and then all the sudden the words fall out, and it's what I was trying to say the entire time. I think with both examples, however, it always comes down to a feeling. Sometimes you can explain it and other times you run yourself in circles.

PETTY: What is your favorite song off your latest EP, “Nellene”

ELZE: Queen of Spades is the one that I feel particularly proud of. I wrote it after the passing of my grandmother, Margaret Nellene Williamson, and it was originally just supposed to be one of those songs that you write for yourself.
I went over to my friend Ryan Pollie's house. We had hung out with each other at this tavern in Eagle Rock called The Fable more times than I can count, but this was our first time working on music together. The entirety of his living room is basically a full fledged recording studio with a bunch of knick knacks smattered all over the shelves and the gear. Me and my friend Aaron Kennedy (Boxtrod) basically cut the whole song with Ryan in about 4 hours. We tracked it all live with no click. Every flub and time discrepancy is absolutely perfect to me. It feels as raw as the writing does and it has this beautiful balance to it.

PETTY: What does the process for producing an EP, song, or maybe even an album, look like for you?

ELZE: Most of the time, ideas that I don’t finish the day or two after I write them, die in the hard drive. I don’t know if it's the ADHD part of my brain or that I get discouraged. But I feel like there is a nice thing about letting go of something that isn’t realized within the moments of its inception. You try not to judge it while it's happening, but you can feel when it's right. (There is always a recycle pile, whether or not I go back to it is another story) It allows me to work fast and efficiently, ultimately making songs that collectively feel like a body of work.

The writing of “A Horse Named Proletariat” came out probably in a span of a couple months, the writing of “Nellene” was the same. I would start an idea and If I felt like I was forcing it, I would move on and start another. The longest part of the process, once the songs appeared, was figuring out what the production wanted to feel like and what versions were gonna be on the EPs.

I love the process of making a body of work. It feels like there are these threads of creative potential that come from the sky, and you can either reach up and yank it down to earth, or you can let the thread go to someone else.

PETTY: After spending time on the East and West Coast, where do you feel at home?

ELZE: I am a southern boy at heart. Every time I go back to the Southeast, it feels like a warm wet hug wrapped in mosquitos and humidity. However, I think home is wherever your friends and community is, and I feel very grateful that I have both on either coast.

PETTY: I see you write on Substack, was writing always an outlet of yours?

ELZE: For the longest time, I only really identified as a songwriter, and it wasn’t until recently that changed.

When I first moved to LA I was going through a break up, the first adult one, and was feeling all the emotions that come with it. That time in my life was kind of my “Hail Mary”, I was making up my mind whether or not I was gonna throw in the towel and move to New York.

My friend let me borrow a copy, rather innocently, of “Love is a Dog from Hell” by Charles Bukowski. I was enamored to say the least. The thing that captured me most about Bukowski’s writing is that he is a complete bastard, he’s not hiding behind anything. You have to wade through 99% of sheer vulgarity but then there are these nuggets of complete and utter gems of honesty. I tore through it and felt this urge to write that I hadn’t really ever experienced. I had the songwriter feeling plenty of times, but this one was more prose and poetry based.

It was a tidal wave, and eventually I had a collection of stories and poems that I didn’t know what to do with. At the very first Deloyd show, a house show, I recited one of the poems called “Mikey”. A pretty loving but brutal account of losing my cousin to the throes of addiction. More people came up to me that night than they ever had after a show, resonating about similar situations they held in their own lives.

I think now the poetry writing and the songwriting are intertwined. They are both separate entities but they are constantly informing one of the other.

PETTY: Do you think it's important to tell a story with your music?

ELZE: I think that's where the Country Music facet of myself comes into play. The creation of the genre is all about storytelling, whether it be rote, fictitious, factual, entertaining, or earth shattering. I think that it is the whole kit and caboodle.

PETTY: When you aren't working on a new song, where could we find you?

ELZE: At Crawfords with a $5 bud heavy and fried chicken sandwich, getting skunked fly fishing on the Owens River, eating illicit fungus stargazing in Lone Pine, hooping and hollering at the demolition derby at the Kern Raceway, window shopping at Perfect Circuit, and seeing my friends play music at various establishments in the greater Los Angeles area.

PETTY: What do you hope listeners take away from your music?

ELZE: In the words of Robert Earl Keen “The road goes on forever, and the party never ends” but my addition is that you're all invited, there's always a seat at my table. I hope this finds you well fed and loved.